520 



ECHIXOCYSTIS 



true Echinocystis, because its juicy fruit bursts irregu- 

 larly at the top, aud coutaius 2 cells, each AvitU 13 tlat- 

 tish seeds. 



lobita, Torr. & Gray. Lys. wider than long, deeply 

 5-lobed, slightly emarginate at the base : tendrils .'i— 1- 

 branched: staminate fls. small, in raany-tld. panicles 

 longer than the Ivs.; calyx glabrou-s : fr. egg-shaped, 

 sparsely covered with prickles. Saskatchewan to Win- 

 nepeg, south to Va. and Ky., west to Colo. A.G. 14; 

 161. "R.H. 189.5, p. 9. (i.C. III. , 22 :271. Sometimes be- 

 comes a weed. W. M. 



ECHtNOPS (Greek, like a heddeJing; alluding to the 

 spiny involucral scales). Coit/jju^lfw. ("tlobe Thistle. 

 A large genus of thistle-like x>lants, with blue or whit- 

 ish flowers in globose masses. The structure of one of 

 these globes is very curious. Each flower in the globe 

 has a little involucre of its own, and the whole glolx^ 

 has one all-embracing involucre. Another way of say- 

 ing the same thing is "heads 1-fld., crowded into head- 

 like glomes." More or less white-woolly herbs: Ivs. al- 

 ternate, pinnate-dentate or twice or thrice pinnatisect, 

 the lobes and teeth prickly. 



Globe Thistles are coarse- growing pl.ants of the easi- 

 est culture, and are suitable for naturalizing in wild 

 gardens and shrubberies. An English gardener with 

 an eye for the picturesque (W. Goldring) reconnnends 

 massing them against a background of Boccoiiiu cor- 

 data, or with such boldly contrasting yellow- or white- 

 flowered plants as Ilelianfhus riijiilnni or Meliatithus 

 tiiitlfiflorus. The best species is -t'. JRuthenicus . A few 

 scattered individuals of each species are not nearly so 

 effective as a condensed mass or group of one kind. I'J. 

 Huthenicus flowers in midsummer and for several 

 weeks thereafter. The silvery white stems and hand- 

 somely cut prickly foliage of Globe Thistles are interest- 

 ing features. They make excellent companions for the 

 blue-stemmed Eryngiums. All these plants are attrac- 

 tive to bees, especially E. exaltattis, which has con- 

 siderable fame as a bee-plant. Globe Thistles are some- 

 times used abroad for perpetual bouquets. 



A. Leaves not puhescent nor setulose above. 

 Eitro, Linn. Tall, thistle-like plant, with pinnate- 

 lobed Ivs., which (like the stems) are tomentose be- 

 neath, the lobes lanceolate or linear and cut, but not 

 spiny: involucre scales setiform, the inner ones much 

 shorter: fls. blue, very variable. Var. tenuifdlius, DC. 

 (A'. Biifhinicus, Hort. ) has the lower leaves more nar- 

 rowly cut, more or less spine-tipped. Gn. 4.5:9.'>1. — Per- 

 ennials of S. Eu., growing 2-.S ft. high. They bloom all 

 summer. Lvs. sometimes loosely webby above. 



AA. Leaves puheseent or sefniose ahove. 



Bannitieus, Rochel. Lvs. hairy-pubesoent above, 

 tomentose beneath (as also the stems), the lower ones 

 deeply pinnately parted, the upper pinnatifld, spinv: 

 fls. blue. Hungary. li.H. 1858, p. .019. 



exaltatus, Schrad. Tall biennial, the stem nearly 

 simple and glandulose-pilose, the lvs. pinnatifld', 

 .scarcely spiny: fls. blue. Russia. B.M. 24.')7 as E. 

 strietus, Pisch. Distinguished by its simple, erect .stem. 

 The garden A', comiiiiildtus may be the same as this. 



sphaeroc^phalus, Linn. Tall (,5-7 ft.) perennial : lvs. 

 pinnatifld, viscose-pubescent above, tomentose below, 

 the teeth of the broad lobes yellow-spined: fls. white nf 

 bluish. S. Eu. B.R. 5:350. " L fl B 



ECHIN6PSIS (Greek, lieehjeling^like) . Caetaeew. Se.\- 

 UBOHiN Cactus. Stems spherical to ellipsoidal or rareh 

 columnar: ribs prominent anil usually sharp-angled': 

 fls. usually long trumpet-shaped, ovary a'nd tube covereil 

 ■with linear-lanceolate, cuspidate bracts which become 

 longer toward the outer end of the tube, where they pass 

 gradually into the outer petals, in their axils bearing 

 long, silky, wavy hairs and usually a few rather rigid 

 bristles. This is a well marked genus, though by so]iii' 

 authors combined with Cereus, confined entirely to 

 South America. Culture as for Cereus. 



a. i?/7^s- of stem elirided info more or less rridetii 

 Inhercles. 

 P^ntlandii, .Salm-Dyck. .Stem sini|d(s later brnm-h- 

 ing, spherical or ellipsoidal, reaidiiiig (I in. in diaiii.: 



ECIIIXOPSIS 



ribs 12-15, divided between the areolaj into oblique com- 

 pressed tubercles : radial spines 9-12, spreading, 

 straight or slightly curved, yellowish brown, the upper 

 the longest and strongest, reaching }4-\% in.; central 

 solitarv, or seldom in pairs, porrect, curved, 1-13^ in., 

 rarely':; in. long : fls. lateral, 2-2?^ in. long, yellow, 

 orange, pink to scarlet-red : fr. spherical, green, ''i in. 

 in diam. Peru. B.^1. 4124. 



A.\. ItiJis of stem not divided. 

 fi. Fii'ivers red or pink. 



multiplex, Zucc. Stems at first rather clavate, later 

 globose ti> ellipsoidal, abundantly branching, C-12 in. in 

 diam. aud the same in height, or rarely taller, light 

 green to yellowish: ribs 12-14, straight, scarcely undu- 

 late : radial spines about 10, suoulate, straight, yellow 

 to yellowish brown, with darker tips, reaching % in. in 

 length, very unequal, horizontally sp>reading; centrals 

 mostly 4, of these the lowest is the longest, reaching 1% 

 in., somewhat porrect at first, later curved and deflexed, 

 darker colored than the others: fls. rare, lateral, 11-15 

 in., rose-red. S. Braz. B.M. 3789. 



Var. cristMa, Hort. Stems flat and spreading in 

 growth, like an open fan or the flower stalk of the com- 

 mon garden cockscomb, spines reduced to flne, stiff 

 bristles. This is merely a inontrosity of the species. 



ox^gona, Zucc. Stems at first simple, nearly spheri- 

 cal or rarely clavate, becoming short columnar, reaching 

 1/i ft. in height and 1 ft. in diam., gray-green, darker 

 above: ribs 13-15, straight or wavy at the base : radial 

 spines 5-15, horizontally spreading, very unequal, reach- 

 ing % in., subulate, obliquely upright ; centrals 2-5, 

 somewhat longer, straight, porrect or deflexed, dark 

 horn-colored, with Idack tips: fls. commonly many to- 

 gether, lateral, reaching 1.'! in. in length, pink to car- 

 mine-red, the inner petals lighter than the outer ones. 

 S. Braz. 



triiimphans, .Tacoto. This is a hybrid between IJ. Eij- 

 riesii and vj'U'jona, with pink double flowers. 



BB. FIoive7^s white. 

 Eyriesii, Zucc. stem simple, commonly branching 

 later, at flrst somewhat depressed, later short to rather 

 tall columnar, reaching a height of 2 ft. and a diam. of 



74J. E^hinopsis cemmata. 



4-(; in., (lark green: ribs 11-18, straight, undulate, with 

 sharp-angled margins: radial spines about 10, scarcely 

 more (han ' ,; in. long, rigid, straight, slender conical, 

 point.'d, dark brown to blatd;; centrals 4-8, but vi'ry lit- 

 tle dilTcn.iit fr.iin the jvidials: fls. i:it.'i'al, 10-15 in. long 



